“The major-general requests the commanding officer will convey to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, his best thanks, and his good wishes for their individual welfare. He is confident that the uniform good conduct, for which the THIRTY-FOURTH have always been conspicuous, both in the field and in quarters, will be the same, in whatever part of His Majesty’s dominions the service of the corps may be required.” [Sidenote: 1818] At this period a confederacy of the native princes in India was formed against the British authority, and extensive preparations for war were made by the coalesced Mahratta States. Their designs were partly discovered and disconcerted by the governor-general, the Marquis of Hastings; but hostilities could not be avoided, and the British took the field for the preservation of their territory from unjust aggression. On this occasion the flank companies of the THIRTY-FOURTH, mustering eight officers, eight serjeants, six drummers, and two hundred rank and file, under the command of Captain Tew, marched from Vellore, to the frontiers, and joining a division of the army assembling for field service at Adoni, were formed in a flank battalion, with the companies of the Sixty-ninth and Eighty-fourth Regiments. This battalion penetrated the southern Mahratta country, with the division under Brigadier-General Munro, to whom the fortresses of _Dummul_, _Kooshgúl_, and _Darwar_ surrendered in succession; and the division halted during the rainy season at Darwar, where the flank companies of the Fifty-third joined the flank battalion, which was commanded by Major Giles. Leaving Darwar in October, the division penetrated the Sundoor valley, and afterwards advanced into the interior of the southern Mahratta country, Brigadier-General Pritzler commanding. The division skirmished with the enemy at _Bejapoor_; and overtook the rear of the Peishwa’s army at the _Salpée Pass_, on the 8th of January, 1818, when the Mahratta troops fled in every direction, over a difficult country, which prevented any great loss being inflicted on them. The division pursued by forced marches, under a burning sun, until the Peishwa’s army separated, and passing the flanks, marched to the north. The battalion companies were relieved from garrison duty at Vellore, and proceeding to Bangalore, joined a division of the field force, on the banks of the Toombudra, under Major-General Long, and remained at this station during part of the Mahratta and Pindaree war; but suffering severely from dysentery, they were removed into garrison at Bellary.